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Gazlowe's Green New Deal - A Hopeful Future for the Goblins
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由
DiscordianKitty
发表于
2024/06/16,00:04
The Goblin Way
is a new short story from the upcoming book,
World of Warcraft: The Voices Within
. In this story by Andrew Robinson, Gazlowe takes the Goblins in a new and better direction - reminding us that Gazlowe has always had a better approach than Gallywix.
The Gallywix Way
Since joining the Horde in Cataclysm, the Goblins of Bilgewater Cartel have had a pretty rough deal. Goblin players who leveled through Kezan and the Lost Isles may remember the storyline revolving largely around trying to challenge the leadership of Trade Prince Gallywix - who ends up using the chaos caused by the Cataclysm to enslave his fellow Goblins. With the help of Warchief Thrall, players finally manage to defeat Gallywix, who promises to reform his ways and lead the cartel right. Thrall agreed, and so Goblin players wound up with a faction leader who, canonically, had personally enslaved and on several occasions tried to murder them.
Trade Prince Gallywix yells: I'm beaten. You've shown me the error of my ways. From here on out, I promise to reform the way that the cartel is run!
Trade Prince Gallywix yells: I'm your goblin, Thrall. What would you have of me?
Thrall grunts and thinks a moment on what to do with the Trade prince.
Thrall yells: For now, you will remain the Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel.
And so, the Goblins of the Horde were burdened with what would turn out to be the worst faction leader since, well, Garrosh - Thanks for that one as well, Thrall
Under Gallywix's leadership, the Goblins of the Horde have brutalized the land of Azeroth - including carving the Horde's symbol into Azshara - an act that has not been well received by all the Horde's races.
I don't be holding any grudges with our goblin allies, but the way they treat our land makes my heart heavy.
The goblin-engineered machines helped build Bilgewater Harbor at unbelievable speed. They cleared the trees to build over the Bay of Storms and killed or drove out anything that lived here. The goblins gained a home, yeah... but cost many creatures theirs. The land was carved up to make room for mechanical contraptions of all shapes and sizes. Despite the changes, Azshara endures, though I still fear the season of dying will take the land entirely one day.
- Rokhan in
Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor
As a leader, Gallywix has remained totally self-interested, covering himself in luxurious jewels and having a pleasure palace - complete with a giant image of his own head - built in Azshara. Even so, the Goblins under Gallywix have been incredibly useful to the Horde, especially during times of war, where their innovation have often helped give Horde a much needed edge.
It was Gallywix who first brought Azerite to Warchief Sylvanas, after his workers discovered a vein of it beneath Kezan. He played a major role during
Battle for Azeroth
, as a member of Sylvanas's inner circle. Consequently, after Sylvanas fled the Horde, so did Gallywix, leaving the Bilgewater Cartel without a leader. Enter Monte Gazlowe.
Under New Management
In The Goblin Way, Gazlowe tells a story about being contracted to rebuild Orgrimmar after the fight against Garrosh - and his decision to do something incredibly unusual for a Goblin: drop his price.
“So, I give Thrall my bid for the gig. You shoulda seen his face.”
“Didn’t go for it?”
“He was . . . set back on his heels. Hard. But I explained what needed done, and he agreed to convince the Horde.”
Noggenfogger flashed his teeth. “Heh. Sucker.”
“The point”—Gazlowe rubbed his forehead, frustrated—“is he treated me as an expert, a master of my craft. I named the figure, and even though he was unhappy about it, he didn’t haggle or argue me down. He showed me respect. The leader of the whole freakin’ Horde.”
“I guess that’s hard to come by.”
“It is exceedingly rare, my friend, and hard-earned.”
“This is where big-picture thinkin’ comes in,” Gazlowe explained. “Since he showed me respect, he made me want to earn his respect. What I understood at that moment was, Thrall would do anything for his people. And I was gonna do everything in my power to make sure that my people did the best work we’d ever done. That’s what he does; you get to know him, and he makes you want to live up to his standards.”
“Unlike Gallywix.”
“Well, like I said, Gallywix was a sociopath. He offered to do it cheaper, but no. Thrall came to me.”
“So, what’d you do?”
Gazlowe made Noggenfogger wait for it. “I dropped my price for him.”
Noggenfogger stared, then shook his head.
In fact, throughout The Goblin Way, Gazlowe makes decisions that feel so unusual for a Goblin, they're almost unrecognizable. But that's partly because we are so used to Goblins like Gallywix setting the tone. As Thrall himself knows, Gazlowe has always been this way.
Gazlowe's History
Rebuilding Orgrimmar after the Siege wasn't the first time Thrall contracted him. In fact, Gazlowe was contracted as Durotar's Chief Engineer while the city was first being built. Years later, after Orgimmar was badly damaged by a fire in the prelude to the Cataclysm, Thrall again contracted Gazlowe to rebuild the city. Even back then, Gazlowe was willing to renegotiate his price.
“Well, of course we can do it,” said Gazlowe. “I mean, we’re goblins, of course we can do it, you know what I’m saying? We did it in the first place, after all. So yes, Warchief, we can rebuild those parts of Orgrimmar that were damaged. Don’t you worry about that.”
“Well, that’s good. And how much are we looking at?”
The goblin reached into the small sack he had brought with him and pulled out an abacus. His long, clever, green fingers flew across it as he murmured to himself, “… carry the one … factor in the cost of supplies at a postwar rate … and of course labor’s gone up …”
He retrieved a piece of charcoal and a sheet of parchment and scribbled down a number that made the orc’s robust green skin turn sickly. “That much?” Thrall asked, disbelieving.
Gazlowe looked uncomfortable. “Look … tell you what … you’ve been awfully good to us, and you’ve been more than scrupulous in your business affairs. How about …”
He wrote a second figure down. It was less than the first figure, but only marginally.
By the time of the Siege of Orgrimmar, Gallywix was well established faction leader in the Horde - while Gazlowe was still officially neutral. According to Gazlowe, Gallywix offered to do the repairs - and for cheaper, but Thrall still chose Gallywix, despite the initial higher price.
Here, we see the core of Gazlowe's approach, and why it works. Gazlowe's services may be expensive, but his work is reliable. Thrall knew Gazlowe could be trusted, he'd seen as much in the many times they'd worked together before. Gazlowe had established such a good reputation, Thrall chose a more expensive outside contractor over someone who was both cheaper and more strongly associated with the Horde.
The Gazlowe Way
Because Gazlowe believes in not cutting corners, providing high quality work, paying his workers properly and treating them well, and even reducing environmental damage, some might be tempted to assume he's soft - a bad businessman, a Goblin who does not value profits the way he should. But this assumption is demonstrably wrong. Gazlowe's approach leads to more contracts, a better reputation, a happier workforce, better quality work, and - most importantly for a Goblin - much, much higher profits.
As we can see with the third Orgrimmar contracts and, later, the foundation of Horde Garrisons during
Warlords of Draenor
, Gazlowe's approach won where Gallywix's failed. Despite Gallywix's association with the Horde, Gazlowe was repeatedly chosen and paid for work over him.
But Gazlowe's approach doesn't just guarantee obtaining the contracts - the way he treats his workers is directly responsible for Gazlowe's reputation for excellence.
During the Horde
Battle for Azeroth
Mechagon campaign, players spent some time working with Gazlowe's crew, the Greasemonkeys. According to a disgruntled laborer who regrets
not
working for Gazlowe,
Gazlowe's crew always get paid, and no dumb risks.
Gazlowe's crew has a reputation not only for being well paid, but for being the best workers around. They're willing to work overtime, and even risk their lives for him - because Gazlowe makes sure they're well compensated and taken care of.
You heard Gazlowe. The boss wants this expedition to go smoothly. No cutting corners, no slush.
I know you've worked with Gallywix in the past. We don't run our operations like that.
We expect the best from our crews, so we pay 'em what they're worth and treat 'em well. In return, we got the best goblin crews on the planet, and they ain't goin' over to any competition.
The Goblin's Choice
This has always been how Gazlowe operates - but in the past, he was simply in charge of his own crew. Now, Gazlowe is Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel - he is responsible for leading an entire faction of Goblins. When Gallywix was given this position, he covered himself in jewels and had a pleasure palace built for himself, but that's simply not Gazlowe. Instead, his new look in the War Within is practical - Gazlowe is, first and foremost, an Engineer - and so is his approach to leadership.
Most refreshingly, Gazlowe feels like a man - or Goblin - of the people. He's no wealthy overlord hiding out in a giant statue of his own head, nor is he some pious high-minded idealist in soft robes preaching about peace without ever getting his own hands dirty. Gazlowe understands Goblins and what motivates them. He doesn't hate or wring his hands over their nature - he loves his people and want them to be the best that they can be, to achieve their full potential - and he leads them towards that potential practically, by showing them what's possible himself.
Noggenfogger took a deep breath, then addressed the crowd. “This may take a while, but don’t worry. We’ll get this fixed as soon as possible. So, you all, uh, take the rest of the day off.” The workers didn’t quite know how to respond. “With pay,” he said with a sigh, and the crowd cheered—even as most of them stayed; there was entertainment value to what was happening now.
Gazlowe, working on the engine, smiled in the darkness of the machine’s underbelly. His plan had worked. “Hey, Noggenfogger,” he called out, “you want to see how to fix one of these things?”
Noggenfogger stooped beside him. “Yeah,” he said, peering into the open engine compartment where the tinkers were gathered around Gazlowe. “I’d appreciate it.”
For a very long time, Goblins have been fairly used to being treated badly, and have tended to treat each other badly as well. They have won allies with their innovation, but they have also made enemies when their work has been unreliable or particularly damaging to Azeroth. Under Gallywix's leadership, they've been a bit of a punchline. Under Gazlowe's leadership, they Goblins may soon have something that has always been in short supply before - respect.
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